Travel and Lifestyle

Slide and Meetup Weekend

Last weekend was a busy one! Initially all I had planned was to go to Stratford to slide on the ArcelorMittal Orbit (the UK’s tallest sculpture) but I ended up doing a lot more than that.

Saturday morning we headed to Stratford and after checking out the views from the top of the ArcelorMittal Orbit we went down the world’s longest tunnel slide! It was a slightly bumpy ride and a little scary as the tunnel is mostly dark but I quite enjoyed it. Shame the “ride” lasts only 40 seconds. At £16.50 a ticket it is quite a pricey slide but I have great friends so I got to experience it for free.

After the slide we had lunch at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen in the Westfield Shopping Centre. Belly full we were ready to go back home. But instead decided to go all the way to Wembley to watch a movie at the cinema. As we still enjoy free cinema tickets we don’t stress too much about watching bad movies. The Meg was the most decent option available and we quite enjoyed it. By the end of it we were quite tired and just wanted to go home. Unfortunately that journey took longer than planned due to buses being diverted on football match days.

Sunday all I wanted to do was to stay at home and chill. I had no plans to leave the house!

This only lasted until I got a message from one of my photography buddies asking if I was taking a disposable camera. I was a little confused as I had no plans to go anywhere. Turns out there was a meetup where people were taking photos with disposable cameras. There was even a competition to pick the best shot and the winner would get a free meal.

Well, I had no disposable camera. Or any plans to attend this meetup. Apparently there was even a waiting list to join. But none of that stopped me. It was not far from home so I thought, f#&k it, let’s see if this one is any good.

It wasn’t a massive group and there were some familiar faces. A few models joined too. Everyone was super nice apart from one grumpy photographer. He kept moaning about everything to himself. It was quite amusing to watch him.

Shooting in Camden on a Sunday is not ideal but when we were on the side streets it was not that bad. It was only when we headed to the canal that we started to struggle with the crowds.

The models were great and a pleasure to work with. The weather was super nice but dealing with the harsh sunlight was a little challenging as we were shooting in the early afternoon.

You can see some of the retouched shots below with the amazing models: Freya, Lucy and Namu-Ujin.

And now some behind the scenes. I know you guys like these so I always try to take some BTS shots.

We were out shooting for just under 3 hours before we got back to the meeting point. The Gino D’Acampo restaurant in Camden. On arrival we were offered a free drink and had one of the floors to ourselves. The restaurant decor is really nice and it was the perfect environment for everyone to socialise a bit after the shoot.

Somehow Matt arranged to have everyone’s film revealed in record time at a shop nearby so he could run the competition for the best disposable camera shot. Everyone got to vote on their favourite shots that were displayed on the pool table at the restaurant. And the winner was announced shortly after.

I really enjoyed seeing so many great shots taken with cheap disposable cameras.

From all the meetups I have attended so far this one takes first place for the best organisation. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and everyone (maybe the grumpy photographer not so much) seemed to be having a great time. Big thanks to Matt from London4All Portraits for putting together such a great meetup.